The prospects of success in Afghanistan are not in American hands alone, nor only in the hands of our NATO allies. As long as the Afghan people perceive that we are propping up a corrupt and illegitimate government in Kabul, our continued presence will be a recruitment bonanza to Al Qaeda. To succeed in Afghanistan, we need the Afghans to reject Al Qaeda. That is unlikely when our only relationship is to an isolated, corrupt, unrepresentative urban elite.